Russia’s Rise
Growth of Muscovy 1300-1533
Growth of Muscovy
1300-1533
Russia’s Expansionist
Politics Under the Tsars
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Ivan III- Ivan the Great- a large part of
Russia freed from Mongol control after
1462 and by 1480 Moscow completely free
of Mongol control
Ivan organized strong army, giving
government new military emphasis
Ivan III called Russia a third Rome and
assumed the title Czar and centralized
authority
Ivan IV- Ivan the Terrible- killed many
boyars he suspected of conspiracy
Expansion and Contacts
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Early expansion towards Central Asia
Recruited Cossacks (peasant adventurers) to settle
in new lands
Incorporation of large Muslim minority- turning it
into a multinational empire similar to Ottomans and
Mughals
Ivan IV established commercial contacts with
Britain and western merchants established outposts
in Moscow and other Russian centers
Time of troubles- Ivan IV left no heir, so after his
death there were power claims by the boyars and
attacks from Poland and Sweden
1613 member of the Romanov family chosen as tsar
and the Romanov dynasty would rule until 1917
Russia’s First
Westernization
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Peter I continued policies of building tsarist control
and expanding territory between 1689-1725
Great Embassy to westernize Russia
Tsarist Autocracy of Peter the Great
Crushed revolts
No interest in parliamentary features of Holland and
Great Britain- more interested in absolutist trend
Modernized the military
Recruited bureaucrats from outside noble ranks
Secret police
St. Petersburg (Sweden reduced to second-rate
military)
What Westernization
Meant
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Russian navy
Eliminated old noble councils
Systematized law codes
Training institutes
Economics- built up the metallurgical and
mining industries
Culturally – got rid of whip at marriage
ceremony, Western dress
Imitation process- changes were selectivemostly affected elites
Some elite opposed incorporation of the
west arguing that Russian traditions were
superior- tension still today
Consolidation under
Catherine the Great
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1724 Peter died and period of weak rule
ensued until 1761, when his nephew and
wife, Catherine, a German princess came to
the throne
Catherine the Great ruled after her
husband’s death and continued earlier
policies of expansion and consolidation
Pugachev rebellion- peasant uprising that
she put down and used as an excuse to
extend the powers of the central
government in regional affairs
1762 Catherine the Great
became empress
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She was also a selective westernizer
She gave new powers to the nobility over
their serfs
She patronized western art but closed the
door to the French Revolution thinkers
Resumed campaigns against the Ottomans
and got Crimea, claimed Alaska
Increased Russian interference with Polish
affairs
Partition of Poland- 1772, 1793, 1795
agreements with Austria and Prussia
eliminated ind. Poland
1796 Catherine died
Serfdom: The Life of East
Europe’s Masses
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17th-18th centuries power of the nobility
over the serfs increased greatly.
By 1800 half of population serfs
1649 – serfdom hereditary and close to
slavery
Agriculture and growing economic
subordination to the west (dependent
relationships of exporting raw materials
and importing manufactured goods)
1785 law allowed landlords to punish
harshly any serfs convicted of major crimes
or rebellion
Trade and Economic
Dependence
95% population rural and really
only 2 classes: serfs and
landlords
 But it did produce enough
revenue to support expansion
and population growth
 Agricultural and manufacturing
methods behind
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Social Unrest
By end of 18th century recurring
peasant rebellions and small
number of western-oriented
aristocrats calling for abolition
of serfdom
 Pugachev rebellion -1770s by
Emelian Pugachev (imprisoned
and executed by Catherine)
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Russia and Eastern
Europe
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Fluctuating borderland of influence,
where Poland and Bohemia (Czech
rep.) oriented towards west and
Hungary part of Hapsburgs
Poland- 1500 largest state in eastern
Europe besides Russia ( Poland
formed in 1386) By 1600 in decline.
Lack of urban centers and merchant
class, aristocratic parliament vetoed
reforms